mondo cool

Virtual Warriors Episode 4: Godzilla VS Justice League

2013-06-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

The King of Monsters faces of against DC comics legendary Superteam. Who will win?

DVD Review: Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule Seasons 1 & 2 (2010 - 2012)

2013-06-18T08:49:00.002-04:00

"A shark on whisky is mighty risky, a shark on beer is a beer engineer". That was a poem by Space Ghost but anyway it's time to review Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule. This show is a spin-off from "Tim & Eric's Awesome Show Great Job" and it is poking fun at public access TV and those cheesy documentary video tapes your teacher put on back in grade three (kids who didn't go to school during the 80s - 2003 wouldn't know what I'm on about). Hosted by a crazy doctor named Steve Brule (played by John C. Reiley) covering very strong topics such as health, sex, family, and even death. Every episode you will see him quote poems (like what I did at the start of the review) and film on location at places like, the zoo, the local puppet theatre, casinos, and the local gay bar. Dr. Brule also has special guests on every episode that includes Steve's family members like his dear old mother that always tells disturbing things about Steve's past, the channel 5 married news team Jan and Wayne Skylar (played by Tim and Eric) with Steve constantly trying to pick up Jan, and other doctors that never seem to get on with Steve as he is always jealous of them. The show always ends with Steve doing a recap and telling the audience what he learned from the experiences he had during the show. (Click "Read More" to see full review).

The humor in this show is absolutely brilliant, John C. Reiley pulls off the whole weird creepy doctor character so well that you forget that it's a character. The other characters are also really well done and will also make you believe that they are real people instead of scripted beings. One of the most charming things about this show is that it legitimately looks like it was taped off television via video cassette recorder (AKA the humble VCR). One complaint I do have is that once the credits are done and the studio bumpers pop up it takes away the feeling that I'm watching a crappy public access show due to them looking so out of place from being too good looking. Another thing really clever about this show is that they've gone the extra mile and added skits that mimic public access commercial breaks and it is done very well adding to the belief that I'm watching public access television. If you are freaked out by any of Tim and Eric's creations like "Tim & Eric's Awesome Show Great Job" and/or "Tom Goes To The Mayor" because it was so out there, fear not as while this is a very bizarre show I wouldn't go as far to say that its so weird that you will get turned off by it. People high on drugs will get the biggest kick out of this show although I'm not saying that I'm encouraging people to take drugs to enhance the experience... I'm also not saying you shouldn't take drugs also as it is completely up to you (I'm not a doctor after all).

Very expansive set of special features that include a ton of very great deleted scenes that make you wonder why these were cut and some extended scenes that are really good to see. While that doesn't sound like much it is a lot more than what you think as it adds a good hour to the viewing time. Overall this show is very brilliant with comedy that will make you laugh so much that you will sound like a little girl (AKA laughing like me). Younger people won't get the humor that it's supplying but to hell with them this is good and I highly recommend watching it. Must see comedy.

Title: Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule Seasons 1 & 2
Starring: John C. Reilly
Studio: Abso Lutely Productions, Williams Street
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 132 minutes (12 Episodes)
Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)
Rating: MA15+ (Strong crude humor, Sexual references)
Price: $24.95
Recommended: Yes

Beastcast 39 - These Are My Guns

2013-06-17T20:09:00.001-04:00

Talking about itstailtime, man of steel, the future of the DC cinematic Universe and more nerdy stuff! For your health! Download and player after the bump!

Download the Episode here. (Right Click Save Target As.)

Blu-Ray Review: Hiiro No Kakera Season 1 - The Tamayori Princess Saga (2012)

2013-06-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hiiro No Kakera Season One is a supernatural drama and contains the story arc called the Tamayori Princess Saga. The show starts off with a high school girl named Tamaki Kasuga taking a bus to her grandmother's house where she is going to live. She arrives early and decides to walk down a path for some sightseeing. On her way down the path she sees a little creature that looks like a ghost that sort of resembles a Puyo (from Puyo Pop, Kirby's Avalanche, Dr.Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and many more titles) but it runs off and then she gets surrounded by big black one-eyed monsters that have goo coming out of them. Tamaki freaks out but gets lucky as the person that was suppose to guide her to the house who is named Takuma Onizaki shows up and tells her what they are. Turns out what she saw were gods that are freaking out because they are scared of her. Takuma hands her a seal and asks her to recite a spell that will drive them away back to their homes. Tamaki pulls it off and beats the big black one eyed monsters and then Takuma guides her to her grandmothers house. Tamaki's grandmother explains to her that the reason why Tamaki is living there is because she is the next tamayori princess and that she'll also have four guardians called the five guardians (I don't get it either) protecting her. The guardians are: Takuma Onizaki (the same guy who helped her beat off the big black one eyed monsters), Mahiro Atori (short dude with a temper), Yuuichi Komura (guy with white hair that can sleep at will), and Shinji Inukai (a very shy guy that cooks). They also have another job and that's to protect the five artifacts that if stolen could cause the end of the world and it wouldn't be an anime if there wasn't a group of bad dudes trying to steal them would it? Yes there are bad dudes trying to steal family jewels to cause chaos if you didn't catch my drift from the previous sentence.

The story sounds promising but the way it presents itself is very disappointing as it just goes completely over your head but not because it's overly complicated but because it's not very memorable. Every time I go to re-watch episodes to get what's going on it feels like I'm watching a new episode each time and this is a very bad thing as it's very frustrating to have to do this to just get the general idea of what the show is about. Characters are OK but there isn't anything special about them as we've seen these kinds of characters before in much better shows. There are also some characters that are really annoying that I just want to beat in their skull with a cinderblock until their heads look like splattered watermelons. The fight scenes are very boring and dull to the point that I wanted to turn off the TV and go outside and play but sadly I couldn't do that as that would be a bad thing to do as I'm reviewing this. At the end of every episode is a scene that has one of the main characters trying to convince you to watch the next episode and yes it does sound very sad but it comes off as being very creepy instead. The most creepy of these segments was one where Yuuichi was in a bathtub inviting the viewers to come in the tub with him so we can spoon. To be fair these segments are aimed at the female audience but even they won't be charmed in by this.

I'm mixed with the artwork as some characters look very pretty but the rest of the character designs are very uninspiring and lazy looking plus some of the shadowing looks very crappy. Backgrounds are the best thing about the artwork as they are very beautiful looking with nice lush greenery in the forest, wonderful woodwork on the school, and nice wavy waterfalls at the river. Animation is OK for the most part but you will come across some very terrible looking animation in the battle scenes and some awkward looking mouth flaps that make it look like a puppet is talking. English dub sounds good but there are some lines that are very cringe worthy and will make you chuckle at how bad they are. Soundtrack is actually pretty good with some pretty calming music that will make you feel like that you are sleeping in a forest and funny enough the show makes you want to fall asleep in a forest.

Special features include text-less opening and closing sequences that are pretty good looking with some nice songs. One last thing before I give my rating, this anime is actually based on a Playstation 2 game of the same name that came out all the way back in 2006 and it has also ports and sequels on Playstation Portable, Playstation 3, and Nintendo DS but sadly the games are more expensive than the animation. Overall don't even bother with this show as it's sloppy, lazy, creepy, and very boring. Really disappointing show.

Title: Hiiro No Kakera Season 1 - The Tamayori Princess Saga

Animation Studio: Studio DEEN

Genre: Animation/Anime, Drama, Fantasy/Supernatural

Running Time: 312 Minutes (13 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)

Rating: M15+ (Animated violence)

Price: $64.99

Recommended: No

DVD Review: Nisemonogatari Part 1 [Limited Edition] (2012)

2013-06-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Nisemonogatari part one (aka volume one) is the first half of the sequel series to Bakemonogatari. This volume has our favorite mundane ex-vampire Koyomi Araragi helping out his friends with supernatural problems. This time he finds himself in a situation that leaves him chained to a bunch of school supplies by that good old crazy bitch of a girlfriend (I mean that in a loveable way). We then go back in time to see what lead up to our hero getting into some extreme S&M action. The flashback starts off with Koyomi getting invited by Nadeko Sengoku to go see her at her house (you will remember her for being the girl with the snake curse from Bakemonogatari part 2) and before he goes he has a nice conversation with one of his younger sisters about his other younger sister. On his way to Nadeko's place he bumps into Mayoi Hachikuji (the wandering spirit from Bakemonogatari part 1) and plays around for a little bit. Koyomi finally makes it to Nadeko's house and what a site he sees as she is dressed up in a very skimpy outfit that she picked just for him. This scene is quite funny as she is trying to seduce him by trying to play some games that involve him touching her very tenderly. Sadly the time she has with him is cut short as her parents turn up with them unaware that she has a boy in the house. Nadeko panics and kicks Koyomi out of the house to avoid getting in trouble. Koyomi then goes to visit Suruga Kanbaru (girl with the monkey paw curse from Bakemonogatari Part 1) and man is she perverted making him feel very nervous. Koyomi has enough of visiting friends for the day and starts to head home but right outside of Suruga's gate is a very creepy looking man asking about the people who live there. Moments later he runs into Hitagi Senjogahara (his girlfriend) and mentions him somewhere in the conversation and then something unexpected happened, Hitagi became terrified and knocks him out and ties him up. Who is this creepy man? Why is Hitagi so afraid of him?

Transioning from the brilliant Bakemonogtari (the first series) to Nisemonogatari (the second series) was a bit awkward at first as the first few episodes were a bit rough to watch with the scenes reintroducing characters feeling very forced nearly making me give up on the show entirely. Once those introductory episodes are done with you will be reunited with the reasons of why you fell in love with the show to begin with. Story is fairly simple but so full of flavor with some great characters although you may hate them at first but you'll soon get over that. I also enjoy that all the characters have aged giving the show some extra charm... well nearly all of them as Koyomi looks the exact same which I'm guessing it is because of his vampirism causing him not to age a single day and if that's the case I give the crew extra credit for paying attention to detail.

Artwork is really strong with vibrant colors all the way to the smoothest shades. Art is also pretty crazy with backgrounds that are so weird looking yet mundane all at the same time and I like how the style switches to very cartoony when they aren't being serious. Japanese dub is the same as it has been since Bakemonogatari which isn't bad as it's a very good dub. Soundtrack is also really good with a nice J-Rock sound that is hard to dislike.

Only one special feature is part of this release and that is the packaging is in the form of an hardback art-book with some lovely pictures and profiles on some of the characters that appear in the show. Overall this was a fairly decent show but it did piss me off at times during the beginning but it improved greatly after that. However it's no way near as brilliant as Bakemonogatari but still I recommend watching this one.

Title: Nisemonogatari Part 1

Animation Studio: Shaft

Genre: Animation/Anime, Lo-Fi Horror/Supernatural, Thriller. Black Comedy, Drama

Running Time: 168 Minutes (7 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)

Rating: MA15+ (Strong sexual themes, Fantasy violence)

Price: $49.99

Recommended: Yes

Gaming Beast plays Marvel Heroes Beta (Part 4, rest after the bump)

2013-06-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

The mighty Thor continues to smash the heads of AIM mooks.
Let us check out the almighty Thor, for the glory of Asgard!
Lets check out The Thing in Marvel Heroes....ITS CLOBBERING TIME!!! ;)
I recorded this at the last open Beta for the new Superhero MMORPG set in the Marvel Universe. Play as your favorite Marvel Superheroes in a Diablo-esque real time Action RPG with many other players. It is fun and Im sure at launch it will be even better.

Blu-Ray Review: Bleach the Movie #4 - Hell Verse (2010) (Bleach Week 2013 Special: Day 5 FINAL)

2013-06-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

It's Friday, Friday, got another Bleach review on a Friday! Damn that sounded very wankerish but anyway it's time for the final installment of Bleach Week 2013 and we are closing it with a bang... Well not really as it's more of a sizzle but one heck of a sizzle if you catch my bad pun. That's right baby, we are closing it off with a review of the fourth film in the Bleach movie series titled "Hell Verse". Hell Verse starts off with Ichigo and his two younger sisters saying goodbye to their dad because he is going to a doctors conference and won't be back until the next day. While Ichigo is wrapping up school the building gets attacked by unseen foes until he gets into soul reaper mode to see who is attacking the school. What they see is a bunch of men with masks, cloaks and chains that are trying to gain his attention (all that's missing is them going "Oh hello sailor"). They manage to knock the mask off of one guy and then the gates of Hell open with a big giant skeletal hand wielding a giant scythe comes out and grabs the now mask-less attacker and drags him back to Hell. While the other men are stunned about the sudden loss they aren't worried about losing the battle as their mission is completed. (Click "Read More" for full article).

What was their mission you ask? It was to distract Ichigo so another group of their men could snatch his sisters as means of collateral so they can get Ichigo to help them out. What the men want with Ichigo is to get them free from Hell completely without them worrying about creatures trying to take them back. From out of nowhere another mystery man that looks like Kakashi (from Naruto) joins the battle and they manage to get one of Ichigo's sisters back. The masked men flee the battle and travel back into Hell with the other sister and it leaves Ichigo feeling very agitated and begins to question the warrior that helped him. The warrior is named Kokuto and he explains that he followed the masked guys out of hell simply because he doesn't like them with no intentions of helping anybody. Ichigo tries to convince Kokuto to take them to Hell so they can rescue his sister. Kokuto accepts to help him out because he has a sister of his own and knows the pain of having a sibling in trouble and thus begins Ichigo's rescue mission to save his sister in Hell.

Remember me saying how "Fade To Black" sounded like a plot to a Bruce Willis action film? Well the plot to this one sounds a lot like it could be a sequel to a Bruce Willis action film. With that in mind, yes the story is a bit corny (what shonen isn't) but I must give it credit for the way it is shot as for a good 60% is in one clean shot ( I don't know if "shot" is the right way to describe that term in animated features). This makes it feel like that I'm joining in on the journey to Hell with them. This film also focuses on telling the story with action scenes more so than talking scenes. I liked how they did that personally but it's easily a hit or miss thing so if you don't enjoy that element of the film you will most likely dislike this movie as a whole. Characters in this film are good but just misses the mark of being great as they could of been fleshed out a bit more. A problem I have with Hell Verse is that there are scenes in the opening titles that are very pointless and out of place. It's also a bit silly how the bad guys choose to try to kill Ichigo in order to ask for help when they could of simply just asked. People who have not scene the television series or read the manga can enjoy this one but some things may confuse them as it references stuff that you are expected to know from the television series but not so much that you can't follow the main story of the film.

Artwork is pretty good and it gives off a perfect atmosphere for its hellish backgrounds with a very dark, creepy, and disturbing aura. Character designs are pretty good but the ones that stand out the most are the grim reaper gorilla looking things that keep Hell in check, Kokuto and Ichigo's other forms. Animation is pretty good but nothing stands out as anything special. English dub is pretty good but there are some lines that are really bad and not in the good kind that you can laugh at either. Soundtrack is decent but throughout most of the film you won't hear any music and I like this as it helps with the films atmosphere.

There is a small selection of special features including the Japanese cinema trailer and two art galleries with one showing off production artwork and the other showing promotional artwork. Overall this film is pretty decent but nothing you'll be watching over and over again but is worth a watch nonetheless. Decent viewing that makes an excellent rental.

Title: Bleach the Movie #4 - Hell Verse
Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot
Genre: Animation/Anime, Horror/Supernatural, Action
Running Time: 94 minutes
Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)
Rating: M15+ (Supernatural violence)
Price: $29.95
Recommended: Yes (Really good rental)

So that's it for Bleach Week 2013. I had a really fun time working on all these articles and especially the one for Burger quest as that meatball sandwich was enough to make me climax (too much info but I don't care). Before I close off this article as a whole I want to blabber on a bit more (hence why this is on the bottom of the page) about the order of films going from least to favorite in a quick top four list and I also want to go over my original plans for how the original Bleach Week was going to be like.

First we have the top four Bleach movies list. The reasons I'm doing this are pretty simple, A. To fill in page space, B. To tell you which Bleach film was the best incase for some reason you only want to watch the best one (or it could be for other reasons I guess). This list is going to be very plain with no comments after as you should know by now on how I feel about the movies (you have read the reviews after-all and yes I do sound like a wanker when I put it that way).

Kaiser's Top 4 Bleach Movies
1. Memories of Nobody
2. Fade To Black
3. Hells Verse
4. The Diamond Dust Rebellion

Now believe it or not Bleach Week wasn't originally meant to be a series of reviews about the films. This was originally meant to happen back last year and was suppose to be about me doing a lets play series on seven Bleach games with one being posted a day for that whole week. The reason why I didn't do this was for the simple reason of me not having enough money to support this idea and was canned pretty quickly. As soon as I heard that I was getting the Bleach films for review the thought of Bleach Week came back to my head but this time I had the materials to give it life. Now if you are still reading at this point of the article I give you my sincerest apologies... I mean thanks for reading me blabbing about stuff that quite frankly won't interest many people. Now will Bleach Week make a return next year? I don't know but if it does I hope it will end up something like how Bleach Week 2012 was supposed to be. What I can say though is that there will be more themed weeks like this coming in the near future and I'm working hard on those as we speak (plus a ton more reviews that will appear soon). So I hear by officially close off Bleach Week for 2013 and I hope you all have a safe one.

Cheers,
James Kaiser

Blu-Ray Review: Bleach the Movie #3 - Fade To Black (2008) (Bleach Week 2013 Special: Day 4)

2013-06-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Oh baby it's Thursday, my second least favorite day of the week (with Sunday being my most hated day of the week due to nothing good being on TV). Thank goodness this Thursday doesn't suck as it's time for the next part of Bleach Week 2013 with a review of the third film titled "Fade To Black" and no it's not based on that Metallica song of the same name (a great metal song by the way). Bleach: Fade To Black starts off with Dr. Mayuri Kurotsuchi working in his lab located in the Soul Society, then from out of nowhere he gets attacked and loses his memory and because of this he goes crazy but not for long as he gets taken away to a place where he can calm down. Meanwhile on the edge of town Rukia is on guard and then suddenly the attackers not only ambush her but also wipe out her memory and kidnap her. Back on Earth we have Ichigo and Kon playing around with a letter that Rukia gave to them but then something odd happens to them as they seem to lose all memory of Rukia but regains it back fairly quickly because he read the letter that Ruikia gave him. Ichigo goes to his friend Kisuke Urahara and explains what happened but is shocked when he sees that Kisuke has lost memory of her as well which has Ichigo mighty suspicious about the whole situation. Ichigo travels to the Soul Society and sees that half of it is covered in a mysterious white substance (Spoiler: It's rock you sick bastards) so he goes to ask other soul reapers to find out on what went on but is instead attacked by them because they have no memory of him and think he is an intruder (sounds like a plot to a Liam Neeson, Bruce Willis, or Harrison Ford film if you ask me). How will Ichigo fix this mess? (Click "Read More" to see the rest of the article).

I had high expectations for this one and it paid off greatly but if you were to judge this one by it's description you will see that the story is a little corny but it's much better than what the description makes it out to be. This movie progresses at a slower pace than the other films but it works as it helps add a ton of charm, builds up the story and a great atmosphere as well. Characters are really enjoyable and feel really different from before adding a layer of freshness to them. A great thing about this film is that you don't have to be a reader of the manga or a viewer of the television series to enjoy this film. When they do make a reference to the television series they explain it so well that you will be like "ahh, I get it".

Animation is really detailed leaving you feeling very impressed and really powerful from the wind cause by their power to the way the weapons move plus the artwork looks excellent too with interesting characters and detailed backgrounds and weapons. English dub was a bit better here than what it was in the first two films with a more fine-tuned sound. The films soundtrack was good and very nostalgic sounding that takes me back to 1997 from when I first caught glimpses of anime on VHS tapes only to be freaked out by the ultra-violent content (I was only seven at the time, stuff like Spriggan was a bit too impactful for me) but charmed by its mystic electronic sound.

Remember how my biggest complaint about these releases was that the main menu was very sluggish to control? Well that problem is nowhere to be seen here and that makes me a very happy retrochappy (that's a pun). There are also some decent special features that include quite a bit of trailers that aired in cinemas and on television. I got to give the trailers some praise as not only did they build up the movie but they also get your imaginations wondering to what on Earth could lead up to an event like this? Adding an aura of mystery to it. Although you only get this if you watch them before you watch the movie and I doubt that most of you will (most of you will most likely ignore them entirely). There is also a art gallery section where you can see some production sketches that are OK but may be considered uninteresting to some.

Overall "Fade to Black" was an excellent installment but just slightly misses the mark on being called a masterpiece. I highly recommend watching this one. That wraps up day four with tomorrow being the fifth and final day for Bleach Week 2013 (I can't tell if you're cheering because there's still more to come or because it's ending soon). The final movie that will be up for review has Ichigo travelling to Hell and back in Bleach the Movie Four: Hells Verse. Until then, say your prayers and eat your vitamins brother.

Title: Bleach the Movie #3 - Fade To Black
Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot
Genre: Animation/Anime, Horror/Supernatural, Action
Running Time: 90 minutes
Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)
Rating: M15+ (Supernatural violence)
Price: $29.95
Recommended: Yes

Burger Quest #2 : (Meat)Balls to the Walls (Bleach Week 2013 Special Day 3)

2013-06-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

Blu-Ray Review: Bleach the Movie #2 - The Diamond Dust Rebellion (2007) (Bleach Week 2013 Special: Day 2)

2013-06-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

Tuesday is here, woo! Time to kick off day two of Bleach Week with the second film in the series called The Diamond Dust Rebellion. This film is about a group of soul reapers called Squad Ten that are sent on a mission from the Soul Society (the soul reapers main headquarters) to protect royalty that are transporting an ancient artifact to an unknown location. The mission is a failure as a mysterious group of bandits attack them and steal the even more mysterious artifact. Due to this incident the Soul Society aren't very happy and they arrest Squad Ten and charge them with treason as they think they took the artifact themselves. The leader of the group Toshiro Hitsugaya has a strong hunch as to who took the artifact and runs off to find the thief. We then go to Ichigo's house where Ichigo senses something disturbing and he ends up walking into the crime scene where other reapers are investigating. Ichigo gets kicked out and ends up running into a very exhausted Toshiro and takes him back to his house and puts him in his bed. Toshiro wakes up and Ichigo tries to get information out of him to find out what on earth is going on but Toshiro refuses to accept help from anybody and storms off with Ichigo chasing him leading to a battle between the two. Ichigo gets knocked out and his friends find him passed out in the street like a drunken hobo. Meanwhile back at the hall of justice (AKA Soul Society HQ) other reapers are investigating to help clear Toshiro's name and end up finding something interesting that cracks the case wide open. One of them takes off to tell what he found but gets attacked by the guy who took the artifact and we find out that the guy who is doing it is someone from Toshiro's past. The artifact thief and Toshiro eventually meet up with each other and then we see what horrors the artifact can create (not saying what it does cause I don't want to spoil it). (Click "Read More" to see the full article).

Unfortunately if you were a fan of the first movie that wasn't familiar with the television series you will be disappointed as this one caters to the fans of the television series so you might have a hard time following what's going on. The story is passable with a good opening but the mystery part of the film is very predictable. The actions scenes were good but they came to the point where they just dragged on for just far too long although some battle scenes do give you a great sense of satisfaction. Characters are pretty enjoyable and you do feel bad for what they go through giving you the spirit to want to cheer them more (even more if you are actually drinking spirits).

Animation is really smooth and the artwork is outstanding with some really detailed backgrounds and some very beautiful looking characters with awesome outfits that are well designed. Action scenes also use both (animation and art) very well making it very fun to watch all the attacks that are pulled off. English dub is alright but there are some cringe-worthy lines but honestly the dub isn't the reason why you are watching this film anyway. Just like the first movie the main menu is very sluggish to control making it very frustrating to get through but it's also not as bad as the first film as it's just a bare bones release with no special features so all you have to do is just keep on pressing enter to start the film.

Overall this is the weakest film in the series although not terrible but I do recommend renting this one instead of buying it. Good but not great. That concludes day two of Bleach Week with two more films to get through with the next one being titled "Fade to Black" and I have high expectations for it as-well. Sadly that review won't be up until Thursday (boo) but there will be a special intermission that has nothing to do with Bleach. What could it be? I know what it is and the clue I will give is that it's the second installment of my quest for hunger (no, it's not me looking for Darabka The Gaming Beast while dressed as a knight). Until then, look up raunchy photos of anime cosplayers on DeviantArt to pass the time (I'm going to get in trouble for that but eh).

Title: Bleach the Movie #2 - The Diamond Dust Rebellion
Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot
Genre: Animation/Anime, Horror/Supernatural, Action
Running Time:90 minutes
Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)
Rating: M15+ (Animated violence)
Price: $29.95
Recommended: Yes (Only as a rental)

Blu-Ray Review: Bleach the Movie #1 - Memories of Nobody (2006) (Bleach Week 2013 Special, Day 1)

2013-06-10T04:58:00.001-04:00

Retrokaiser here welcoming you to my first ever series where I take a collection of films and release one review a day on a film from that series for a whole week. This week I am going to go through all four Bleach movies... OK so it's not technically a full week but you get the picture. So grab your seven-foot swords and horny teddy bears because we are kicking off Bleach Week with "Memories of Nobody (2008)". Memories of Nobody is about two soul reapers (grim reapers) named Ichigo and Rukia who are out just doing their job helping spirits reach the afterlife and warding off corrupted souls called Hollows. Their work day is going pretty well until they are called in for a job down town and are surprised to see a whole group of mystical beings that sort of look like KKK members having a birthday party. They can't seem to figure out how to defeat these things until out of nowhere another soul reaper pops out of nowhere and wipes them all out with one big massive tornado attack. Ichigo goes and reports this to his friends and then they do some research so they can find out who she really is. Kon (Ichigo's teddy bear sidekick) swears he saw another warrior in the battle that makes this situation a lot more serious. Ichigo goes out and runs back into the mystery female soul reaper over at a local market and she said she'll tell him anything he wants if he can catch her. Ichigo chases her all over the market that's full of stalls and random men stripping for television (don't ask). Ichigo does end up catching her after she falls from a high place and they go hangout for awhile with her telling him what she knows. While they are walking home they decide to visit a graveyard and get attacked by warriors in some very old looking armor and they want the girl so they can not only destroy the otherworld but the living worlds also. I wonder how this will turn out? (Click "Read More" to see full article).

After being very disappointed by the horrid television series my expectations for this film were pretty low so I was dreading seeing this film. Man did I pick the wrong time to think that as instead of a terrible show that has more filler than a fat porn star at an orgy, I got a pretty damn impressive action flick with a hint of romance, a well told story and excellent characters and I'll go as far as to call this film a masterpiece. It is also a film that stands out on it's own so people that are not familiar with the Bleach series will enjoy it just as much as fans of the Bleach series.

Animation is very smooth with some beautiful and very detailed visuals that will make you say "wow, that actually looks pretty good". English dub is the same as the television series so it won't alienate the people that watch the show and will feel fresh for the people who only know of Bleach because of this film and it is also pretty good with a strong cast that really suits the characters well. The menus are frustrating to get through due to being really sluggish making it hard to know when to click the remote so you can have the menus in English*. I kid you not as it took me three attempts (on average) to pick the right language so it does lose some points for lack of convenience (even though we don't score on a points ratio here in the Terrordome).

Special features in this release include a bunch of really lovely looking production artwork, promotional trailers, and a very enlightening documentary interviewing the crew with some very interesting things to say like how they made it with the intention of making it so that people who haven't seen the show will enjoy the film (and indeed it worked). Overall this was classic and I highly recommend this one should be an essential to anime collections. Bleach fans will love it and Bleach haters will be pleasantly surprised . So that wraps up day one of this special series with three more films to look at. Check in tomorrow as we look at the second film "The Diamond Dust Rebellion".

Title: Bleach the Movie #1 - Memories of Nobody
Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot
Genre: Animation/Anime, Horror/Supernatural, Action
Running Time: 87 minutes
Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)
Rating: M15+ (Animated violence)
Price: $29.95
Recommended: Yes

*Note: When you boot up the disc it takes you to a screen with about six to ten different language options.

DVD Review: Hakuoki OVA Collection - A Memory Of Snow Flowers (2011 - 2012)

2013-05-31T07:15:00.000-04:00

You've seen me give great praise to season one and two of the samurai drama Hakuoki but now it's time to move onto the third set which is not a third season but a OVA (Original Video Animation) collection consisting of six episodes about the same story but seen from the perspective by six different characters from the show. Anyway I'm skipping too far ahead but continuing on... Hakuoki: A Memory of Snow-flowers is a special mini series about a local geisha bar coming to the Shinsengumi for a job to spy on a gang of swordsmen staying at the bar who plan on attacking the Shinsengumi's Headquarters and they need someone to keep watch so they know when they plan to attack so they can prevent it. They choose to send Chizuru to pose as one of their geishas but they greatly fear that she will get herself in danger and become more protective of her than normal as if she was their sister or daughter. (Click "Read More" to see the full article).

While the idea sounds like it would get tiresome fairly quickly but you'd be surprise how fresh it feels in most episodes. Yes you do see paths collide but for the most part each episode is very unique with plenty to offer. However don't expect it to add anything to the main experience after watching the first two seasons as it really doesn't join up with them but it is still fun to watch once you've finished the other sets. This series is also more romantic comedy rather than a strong samurai drama series which would of bothered me if it was in the main series but it was oddly appropriate here. Complaints I have with this series is the sixth episode as the first half is just a re-cap of episodes one through five and the other half is taking from the point of view from a character named Chikage Kazama, to put it bluntly it was quite boring as there wasn't anything interesting as it's everything we saw in episodes one through five. Well that's no totally accurate as there is a scene that was an alternate version of a scene from season one but there isn't anything much different about it except for a different lead in to the scene so this episode is not only everything we saw from episodes one through five but also season one (try reading this paragraph five times nonstop). That's such a shame as the first five episodes were building this to be quite a good episode but nope.

Animation and artwork is the same as the last two seasons which is very good but it also means it shares the same problems as those episodes, with some graining that is doomed to make it not age well. English dub is pretty good with it being a little bit more livelier than what it normally is but there are also some characters that just sound very irritable and cheesy. This OVAs soundtrack uses the same one as the television series which is a very good thing as it has a very wonderful sound to it.

There are some special features that include the typical text-less opening and closing credit sequences which is honestly more than what I expected as I was just expecting it to be a bare bones release with nothing else added. Overall this one is for the fans of the series but people who aren't famiuler with the show can enjoy this too but some things will fly over their heads. Good side series that is worth a watch.

Title: Hakuoki OVA Collection – A Memory of Snow Flowers

Animation Studio: Studio DEEN

Genre: Animation/Anime, Drama, Comedy, Romance

Running Time: 150 Minutes (6 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)

Rating: PG (Mild themes, Animated violence, Coarse language)

Price: $34.99

Recommended: Yes

DVD Review: Hakuoki Season 2 - Record Of The Jade Blood (2010)

2013-05-29T01:15:00.002-04:00

Based on the video game series of the same name, Hakuoki Season Two - Record of the Jade Blood picks up right after season one with our favorite bunch of rouge samurai, The Shinsegumi are trying to plan a strategy to storm the castle after their last attempt which left some of their men killed in action. Unfortunately for them the times have changed from an era of swords and honor to the age of gunfire and cowardice so their way of fighting has become obsolete. That's not all as they are also thrown into a war that separates them all into groups leading them to battle. That's still not all as they also have a group of seemingly unstoppable demonic humans called Fury who seek to take advantage of this war so they can feed on all the blood from both fallen and living. While battling the Fury they find themselves in shock as their leader is none other than Chizuru's father whom she's been desperately searching for since the shows beginnings (season one if you want a simplified version kiddies). All hell is breaking loose (or seems to be) in this epic samurai drama turned war journal.

The story is shown from the point of view of Chizuru, who you may remember from being a prisoner to growing to love them and becoming a member of the Shinsegumi herself. This show does the whole "though the eyes of a * BLANK *" pretty well telling a good story while capturing the brutality of war well enough to make you worry about the characters quite a bit. Characters are pretty strong and you get emotionally attached to them and some scenes really do tug at your heartstrings making you shed a tear or two. While it seems there is a supernatural element to the show there really isn't as the Fury are victims of steroid abuse rather than though voodoo or black magic. There are also some really good battle scenes that aren't drawn out for too long and leave you feeling fairly satisfied. Complaints I have with the story is it starts off a little slow for my liking and some of the drama can be overdone to where it fells a little cheesy.

Animation is OK but there is the odd occasion where the mouth flaps are horribly out of sync with the voice work. Artwork is pretty decent with some really great looking characters with some awesome costumes designs like the tradition Japanese clothing and the European war clothing. The scenes are good looking but sadly the artwork as a whole is starting to age to a point where this would look pretty average in a few short years. Like season one there is some graining in some scenes distracting you from enjoying the show adding to its aging problem but thank goodness the story is what will make this show something special when that dreaded time comes. English dub is pretty good adding a lot of charm to the characters. Soundtrack is really beautiful also adding a ton of charm and it helps out with the shows dark, gritty and often times romantic atmosphere.

Pretty thin on the special features with only (you guessed it) text-less opening and closing credit sequences that are (you've guessed it again) really fun to go back and watch as they were pretty good. Overall this was pretty good although not as strong as the first season but still serves as a great follow-up season. Really good samurai war drama highly recommend it.

Title: Hakuoki Season 2 – Record of the Jade Blood

Animation Studio: Studio DEEN

Genre: Animation/Anime, Drama, War

Running Time: 250 Minutes (10 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)

Rating: MA15+ (Strong animated violence)

Price: $59.99

Recommended: Yes

Blu-Ray Review: Inu X Boku Secret Service (2012)

2013-05-24T04:09:00.004-04:00

Listen up all you Human Toilets out there! Inu X Boku Secret Service is a show about a fifteen year old girl (soon to be sixteen) named Ririchiyo Shirakiin who moves into a very nice looking apartment building and soon meets up with Soshi Miketsukami who is assigned to be her servant (in the same manner as a butler or a bodyguard). Soshi is a very kind guy that is willing to do anything for her even risking life and limb. Ririchiyo is very rich, very stuck up , and very rude to everyone around her and is always putting them down with harsh insults. Although deep down inside her she is a sweet little thing that always feels bad for the trouble she has caused people but is a little shy to go up and apologize to them so she writes them letters instead. There are also other servants there that serve the other residents like the very quiet and always hungry Karuta Roromiya, the cheeky but caring bunny-man named Zange Natsume, and the horny lesbian Nobara Yukinokoji. One night a burglar breaks into the building but gets a nasty shock when he sees that all the people there have supernatural powers. They give Mr. Hamburgerler a good thrashing (that's not his actual name but I rarely get a chance to bring up "Mr. Hamburgerler" in a review) and soon we find out that the apartment building serves as not only a home but also a protection agency for decedents of humans who couldn't keep it in their pants and ended up getting monsters knocked-up. (Click "Read More" for full article).

Despite the first episode giving you an impression that it's going to be a supernatural action show, it really isn't. This show is a relaxing romantic comedy with supernatural elements with the characters worried about getting their school work done. The show is good but not great with a bunch of things that will either be hit or miss with viewers. Characters are pretty mixed ranging from loveable to obnoxiously annoying like when they overuse some gags and Nobara overusing her catchphrase "MANIAC!". The loveable characters are what makes this show watchable with one example being the insanity of one guy who wears S&M getup and calls everyone "human toilets" and is always judging things with the words "Sadist" or "Masochist". As you can tell sexual jokes and innuendo are a plenty (it's sure to give fan-girls great ideas for their yaoi and yuri fan-fictions BARF... OK the yuri is fine) giving it another problem as it doesn't know which audience to cater to as it's too childish for adults and much too raunchy for young adults. Although if you can look past the gags the story is pretty decent but it does start off a bit slow (around three episodes) but after that slump it is decent.

Artwork is very good with some really cute and interesting looking characters and some really cool looking backgrounds. Animation is really good with nothing bad to say about it what so ever. English dub was good but not great as while it doesn't sound terrible it's not very memorable. Only the typical special features in this set with some really nicely done text-less opening and closing credit sequences (I particularly love the S&M mans theme song. HUMAN TOILET!). If I'm going to stretch it then technically you could count episode thirteen as a special feature as it's an OVA but you could also argue that it isn't one too.

Overall I did have some mixed things to say about this show but in the end I enjoyed it. This is a hard one to give a rating for due to it's hit or miss status but since I liked this I'm going to say yes but do keep what I said about the hit or miss thing in mind. A good but not great show.

Title: Inu X Boku Secret Service

Animation Studio: David Production

Genre: Animation/Anime, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Supernatural/Horror

Running Time: 312 Minutes (13 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)

Rating: MA15+ (Strong sexual themes)

Price: $64.99

Recommended: Yes

Beastcast 38 - the Beast is Back!

2013-05-21T21:52:00.000-04:00

The Gaming Beast is back in action after a long hiatus. Talking mainly about Star Trek into Darkness and Iron Man 3. Download and player after the bump!

Download the Episode here. (Right Click Save Target As.)

Blu-Ray Review: Hellsing Ultimate Collection 2 (2008 - 2011)

2013-05-16T04:28:00.002-04:00

Hellsing Ultimate Collection Two is the second volume of this OVA series containing parts five to eight and damn it was a long wait to finally get these episodes outside of Japan as we have been waiting for close to five years to see episode five onwards. In this bundle of episodes we have the Nazis reaching the United Kingdom and deploying waves upon waves of vampire soldiers in full bloody (no pun intended) force attacking men, women, and children with no remorse what so ever. They also send a squad to attack the Hellsing Organization's headquarters but not without a fight as Seras Victoria and Pip Bernadotte have prepared for their arrival and have some strong defenses of their own. Meanwhile back at the hall of justice... I mean back at the battle ship from episode four we have Alucard taking control of it and he is heading to the battlefield so you know that shit is going to get real once he hits shore (pardon my French on that one as I'm really excited for this one). If you think that is all? Well it's about to get even more bigger when the Vatican army joins the party. Vampires, Nazis, Catholics, this is going to be one hell of a party and I brought the snacks. (Please click "Read More" if you are viewing this from the main page. You are missing out on quite a bit of stuff).

First things first, if you are expecting to enjoy this for the story you will be disappointed as there really isn't much story in this set but rather a whole ton of hard boiled action and a sea full of blood and gore. The characters are really good and interesting with a slight hint of western films like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly giving them all a very unique feel and you will also finding yourselves routing for everyone of them at some point or another especially the ones that you looked down on when you first saw them back in collection one. One thing I was disappointed with collection one was that the show was only MA15+, this upset me because I thought that this could of gotten away with more violence that the comic book/manga got away with and man did I get excited when I saw that this volume was rated R18+ although not to say that the first volume was terrible by any means I just expected more in terms of violence is all (yes I am one sick bitch). With them getting away with a harder rating it made me have higher expectations than what I had with collection one but did it all pay off? Hell yeah it did, the violence is ramped up to overdrive but sadly it's still not up to par with the violence from the comic book/manga but it's still very satisfying and defiantly not for the squeamish.

Behold a real vampire. Alucard doesn't sparkle, show love, or mercy. Alucard is a real vampire indeed.

Artwork is very detailed capturing the darkness and madness of vampire warfare really well. Animation is very well done and also detailed but some scenes are a bit cheesy with the Nazis biting into people like they were fat on a big tender steak. The English dub is also really cheesy with some very badly done German, Italian, and British accents but oddly enough the Irish accents were done pretty well and I was expecting it to sound the worst but assuming makes fools of us all. While the English dub is cheesy it does blend in with all the madness really well bringing back nostalgic memories of watching action movies from the eighties and nineties giving it a very smooth experience.

What a terrible night to have a curse.

Some decent special features in this set including forty-minute long interviews, convention panels where the cast and crew answer some questions, text-less credit sequences, a documentary celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Hellsing series, and a bonus OVA called "The Dawn: Act One" which is about Alucard and a much younger Walter doing some Nazi hunting during world war two and I definitely recommend giving it a view as it adds some extra meat to the series. Overall this set of episodes was worth waiting a long time to sink my teeth in as they were very enjoyable to watch. Defiantly recommend this one.

What a wonderful night to give out curses.

Title: .Hellsing Ultimate Volumes V - VII

Animation Studio: Satelight, Madhouse, Graphinica, Genon Universal

Genre: Animation/Anime, Action, Horror/Supernatural, War

Running Time: 185 Minutes (4 Episodes)

Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)

Rating: R18+ (High Impact Themes)

Price: $59.95
Recommended: Yes

DVD Review: Bakemonogatari Part 2 [Limited Edition] (2009)

2013-05-12T09:17:00.001-04:00

Bakemonogatari part 2 is the second (and final) volume of this lo-fi horror (or new wave anime*) series about an ex-vampire named Koyomi Araragi trying to live a normal life but gets anything but. During a trip to a shrine with his friend Suruga to deliver something important they see a girl running in the opposite direction and Koyomi starts to wonder who she was as she looked very familiar to him. When they deliver the item to the shrine they see what seems to be a ritualistic slaughter of snakes and suspect that something is up and they start to look for the girl that ran past them because they think that she has something to do with it. Koyomi and Suruga meet up with the girl from the shrine steps and they find out that she was doing a ritual to get rid of a curse she has. Koyomi feels bad and decides to help her get rid of the curse. That's not all as Koyomi has a really big problem of his own and the problem is that his psycho girlfriend (downgraded from suicidal, homicidal, genocidal bitch and no, he isn't dating the wrestler Sabu) named Hitagi wants to go out on a date. I wonder how this first date will turn out for this delightful (not making a joke there) couple. (To see the full review click "Read More").

Story is told really well with a really great atmosphere that consists of a mixture of psychedelic and creepy. This show also oddly feels like a modern day version of the X-Files with its heavy focus on investigating and that also builds up some great suspense and keeps you on the edge of your seats wondering what's going to happen next but unlike the X-Files you do get to see the demons they are researching. The characters are also really great with a ton of charm, relatable and slightly insane yet down to earth all at the same time so you'd be mad if you don't like these characters. One thing that took me by surprise is the violence, it's really bloody and always sudden adding a little bit of friendly (AKA not overly offensive) shock value to it that's sort of like a jump scare but not as shit.

Art-work is really great with well designed characters with some very smooth animation and there is a lot of variety in art-styles ranging from really cartoony all the way to photo realistic. The scenery is very artistic like I'm looking at a museum art-piece which also adds a creepy element to the shows atmosphere. Animation in the credits feel very unique and are very over the top and it adds a lot of fun to the show. The credit sequences also change every story-arc which always gets you something to look forward to. The Japanese dub worked with the characters pretty well but it felt like there was something missing which could of made this dub amazing but for some reason I can't seem to put my finger on it.

Same type of special features in this volume as we had with volume one, promotional videos, a ton of text-less credit sequences (which is a really good thing as they were very good), and cast commentary on every episode. Also like volume one the DVDs come in a hardback book full of art and info of the characters that are pure candy for the eyeballs. Overall this show is not only a must watch but it's also one of those shows that can be watched over repeatedly over and over again. Highly recommended watch this one is (*Yoda growl* mmmm).

*Note: Read the review to Bakemonogatari Part 1 to find the original "New Wave" comment.

Title: Bakemonogatari Part 2 [Limited Edition]
animation Studio: Shaft
Genre: Animation/Anime, Drama, Romance, Black Comedy, Horror/Supernatural
Running Time: 168 Minutes (7 Episodes)
Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)
Rating: MA15+ (Strong sexual themes, Infrequent animated violence )
Price: $49.99
Recommended: Yes

DVD Review: Hakuoki Season 1 - Demon of the Fleeting Blossom (2010)

2013-05-09T08:29:00.000-04:00

Based on the video game series of the same name, Hakuoki is an animated drama series about a girl named Chizuru Yukimura who is looking for her lost father and ends up getting captured by a clan of rouge samurai called "The Shinsegumi". During her imprisonment she actually starts to like it there and grows fond of them and they grow fond of her back allowing her to take part in all their missions. While on a mission they come across another group of rouge samurai that call themselves "The Devils" and they have some incredible skills of likes they have never seen before. This battle leaves a good chunk of The Shinsegumi men in critical condition. Chizuru steps up to treat their wounds and thus she gets entrusted with being a medic during missions. Shortly after the battle Chizuru finds out a dark secret that only a few people know that could quite possibly put her life in jeopardy. (If you want to read the rest of the review, please click "Read More' and bam! There is the rest of the review).

The story was told in a very beautiful and clever way with a strong cast of characters that will draw you in emotionally making you care a lot about them. This show also feels like that I'm not watching an anime based on a video game but rather I'm watching a stage play with each episode masquerading itself as an act. One complaint I have is that every time Chizuru is introduced to a new male character it pauses like that I am expected to pick a love interest to get one of the many endings* like you would in the video games. While it works well in the games I do find it silly for it to be in the show. Another thing about this show is that is has some really nice plot twists (not spoiling what they are) that caught me by surprise which is nice as most plot twist I've seen in general are all dumb and predictable so to see something like this is nice breath of fresh air.

The art-work looks great but there are some scenes (mainly the night ones) where it is grainy and it distracts me a little bit but I got used to it (not to be confused with the intentional film grain you see in the flash back scenes). There is a mistake on the back cover saying that this is only viewable in a Japanese dub with English subtitles but there is indeed a English dub in this release. The English dub is very strong with the voice cast matching up to the strength of the story. Soundtrack was very beautiful and relaxing capturing the samurai vibe with no hassles to be said what so ever.

Pretty basic special features with the typical text-less opening and closing credits but while typical they were fun to re-visit as they were very beautifully done. Overall for a show based on a video game this one was excellently done and certainly breaks the stereotype of "all show/films based on video games are utter garbage" much like how Clannad also broke this mold (I like to bring up Clannad a lot in my reviews). Definitely recommend giving this show a watch unless you want to commit harakiri (the art of stabbing a sword into your stomach as a form of suicide) although that might be a tad bit of a harsh punishment but still, you are really missing out on a really great story if you ignore this show. Keep an eye out for my review of the second and third seasons that are coming out soon and I only hope that they are just as good (or even better) than this one.

*Note: This show doesn't have many endings.

Title: Hakuoki Season 1 – Demon of the Fleeting Blossom

Animation Studio: Studio DEEN

Genre: Animation/Anime, Drama

Running Time: 288 Minutes (12 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment

Rating: M15+ (Animated violence)

Price: $59.99

Recommended: Yes

The Anime Room: Kara no Kyoukai Review

2013-05-05T14:36:00.001-04:00

Murder? Chicks with daggers? Supernatural shit? It's all here, it's all awesome. Check out my review of Kara no Kyoukai, a 7 film anime series filled to the brim with raw, unfiltered win.

DVD Review: Azumanga Daioh The Animation Complete Collection (2002)

2013-05-05T11:19:00.002-04:00

Azumanga Daioh is an animated comedy based on the 4-panel comic strip of the same name about a group of high school girls just being normal teenage girls but with a comedic twist soldiered on to it. Chiyo Mihama (AKA Chiyo Chan) is a 10-year old that got skipped ahead due to being super duper smart kinda like the character Harold from the classic comedy film "Revenge From The Nerds (1984)", Tomo Takino is a very energetic, mischievous and likes to compete in sporting events, Koyomi Mizuhara (AKA Yomi) is the straight-headed one but is also very weight conscious, Sakaki Mizuno is the tall silent one that loves animals but animals don't share the same feelings back, Ayumu Kasuga (AKA Osaka) is a transfer student from Osaka and is very slow, naïve and is always sleeping in class, Kaorin is a very sweet girl that has a huge obsession over Sakaki which adds some lesbian innuendo into the show (but you never find out if she is or not), and mid-way into the show we are joined with Kagura who is also very athletic that majors in running.

The show is written very well with a strong cast of characters (both main and supporting) that are some of the most funny, charming, and lovable you will ever see in animation and you will find your butt falling out of your pants from laughter (one ass cheek per pant leg making it look like you have shankles). Another thing I like about the show is that the story is very progressive with the show starting on the first year of their high school days and ends after their final year of high school and they also have the characters age adding extra detail (because you know how some anime characters never seem to age past them entering the later years of elementary school). A big gripe I have with this show is that this box set is rated MA15+ and yet this show is safe enough to show children of all ages. You may find the odd adult joke here or there really isn't anything in here that you wouldn't see in Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon shows and at most this show should only be rated PG.

(From left to right) Osaka, Chiyo, Tomo, Kaorin, and Yomi.

Art-work is very adorable and fun adding extra cuteness and charm to the characters and the scenery while basic it looks very good. Animation is pretty good for most episodes but there are some moments where you can tell they cut down the budget but for a show from eleven years it has aged very gracefully. English dub is very good and did a good on making the comedy just as funny as the voices in your head from reading the comic/manga. Soundtrack adds a lot to the show too and is just as memorable as everything else in the show.

What's the matter Sakaki? Cat got your tongue?

While there isn't many special features in this set you do get some good stuff. There are the typical text-less credit sequences that are fun to re-visit, Great looking sketches from when the show was in production, and you get a bonus film called "Azumanga Daioh The Very Short Movie" and by short I really do mean short with a total running time of six minutes. Overall this is a very excellent anime that can be watched over and over again and should be in every anime/animated collection. My only regret is that I can't express my love for this show even more than what I am in this review. I Highly recommend this one.

This DVD set will make the cut with every fan of animation.

Title: Azumanga Daioh The Animation Complete Collection

Animation Studio: J.C. Staff

Genre: Animation/Anime, Comedy

Running Time: 650 Minutes (26 Episodes)

Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)

Rating: MA15+ (Adult themes, Coarse language, Low level violence, Sexual references)

Price: $49.95
Recommended: Yes

Blu-Ray Review: Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere Season 1 (2011)

2013-04-27T09:17:00.003-04:00

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere is a bizarre action show about a high school class training to be high level warriors who end up going to war to rescue a girl called Horizon from being sentenced to commit suicide. While it is a simple story the show tries to make it more complicated than what it really is and it makes it very frustrating. While the story is very dumb and confusing you will be drawn in by two very strong elements which are the characters and the action. The action is very top notch with exciting robot battles, clashes of iron against armor, erotic and exotic magical powers giving it a feeling that I'm listening to a "Dungeons and Dragons" session that me and my friends record every now and then. Characters in this show are very insane like Tori who is a very flamboyant looking pervert that loves hentai, Masazumi daughter of a politician who is forced to live as a boy, Tori's busty sister Kimi that specializes in the art erotica, and other weirdos like a curry throwing Indian, twin witches that use their broomsticks as guns, a talking slime, and a fat nerd that sounds like a character our pal Darabka the Gaming Beast does for his Beastbar cartoon. While weird they all have a lot of charm and a lot of sex appeal that you can't help but to find them enjoyable. (Click "Read More" to read the rest of this review).

The art-work in this show is completely insane with very exaggerated looking characters and all the women look like boom poles with bowling ball sized breast attached to them and believe me I wouldn't mind them sweeping up my 10-pin alley if you know what I mean (OK that's taking it a bit to far). Animation is really impressive during the battle scenes and pretty good during all the other scenes and brace for a lot of bouncing animation for the breast which will offend women and make everyman smile. Soundtrack has a very grand sound and sets the mood with each scene perfectly and also has some catchy pop-music to boot. English dub syncs up with the insanity of each character very well but I can see some people switching it to the Japanese dub as some characters can get very annoying.

Tori takes his school studies very seriously, he is studying to become a bomb defuser.

Pretty standard by the book special features for the most part with text-less credit sequences and promotional trailers. However there is one really unique special feature in this set and that is a lecture about the history of the far east (the place that this show is based in) giving us some extra detail about the show's universe and while this may seem like a novelty of a special feature it was very enjoyable and well worth the time. However I do warn that this feature is in Japanese with English subtitles only... actually it's only in text as there is no dub in this feature as it also doubles up as a parody on the text adventure hentai games that Tori plays in the series. I recommend checking out the show but don't go in expecting this to be serious otherwise you will wind-up being disappointed.

SCISSORS!

Title: Horizon In The Middle Of Nowhere Season 1

Animation Studio: Sunrise

Genre: Animation/Anime, Sci-Fi, Action, War, Comedy

Running Time: 325 Minutes

Distributor: Madman Entertainment (www.madman.com.au)

Rating: M15+ (Animated violence, Sexual references)

Price: $64.95

Recommended: Yes

Blu-ray Review: GYO Tokyo Fish Attack! (2012)

2013-04-25T11:03:00.001-04:00

GYO Tokyo Fish Attack is a short animated horror film about mutant cyborg sea creatures causing havoc in Tokyo. The movie starts out with a group of teenagers camping in a cabin by the woods and they are having a good time like you would normally have at a place like that. The slutty one of the group (pardon my tongue) decides that she wants to have a threesome with two of the guys there and right as they are about to mingle a mutant cyborg shark bursts through their window and attacks everyone. This shark is one mean old perverted bugger too as the first thing he does is pin down the girl from the three way but she manages to get away with only her skirt ripped off and she's screaming bloody murder and running down the hall with her bare ass hanging out (again, pardon my language). They miraculously defeat the mutant cyborg shark with only minor damage, so what do you think happens next? She continues on having her threesome with the two bro dudes of coarse. The other half of the teens are a bit more shaken up about it and they watch the news on the TV and then Kaori (our main heroine) receives a very distressed phone call from her boyfriend saying "Do not return to Tokyo". Kaori decides to pack up and go back to Tokyo anyway to find her boyfriend but runs into trouble when she sees that the whole city has been infested by mutant cyborg sea creatures. Kaori is not alone in this twisted fish war as she is joined up with a handsome freelance reporter that just happens to be after her boyfriends uncle who might know the cause of the invasion. (To read the rest of the review please click "Read More").

What I really love about this film is all the influences you see from classic B-grade and A-grade horror films like Evil Dead, The Ring, Alien and many more that gives this film a very charming feel like it's paying tribute to all those horror films you love. All the characters are what you expect in a film like this with the lead character starting out as a wuss and growing strong while all the rest are getting slaughtered like how Jack the Ripper got his pray. Action is really damn insane as you could probably imagine from the films description and movie title.

"Kaori"

The art-work is decent with a lot of detail but it can also look very dull with all the shades of grey. The griminess of the monsters is quite well fitting with the fifty shades of grey and brown you see giving it a very gross look and you can also barely notice that a bunch of those monsters are 3D CGI models. The bare ass you see at the start of the film wasn't bad either (too far with that comment perhaps?). Animation is passable but not the best but it could of been a lot worse. This movie is only available in a Japanese dub with English subtitles and the dub is pretty good and feels like I'm witnessing acting straight from 80's B-grade films but Kaori does get a bit annoying when she keeps on screaming her boyfriends name.

*Jaws Theme*

Overall if you are a fan of horror, B-grade films, harming sea creatures, cyborg mutant sharks, bare ass slut in a three-way, this film is for you. This film is especially good for when you have all your friends around so you can laugh along with the fun (even schools of Tuna will enjoy this). Highly recommend this one.

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Title: GYO Tokyo Fish Attack!

Animation Studio: Ufotable

Genre: Animation/Anime, Horror

Running Time: 70 Minutes

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment

Rating: MA15+ (Mature themes, Course language, Sexual references, Violence)

Price: $39.99

Recommended: Yes

Blu-Ray Review: Bodacious Space Pirates Part 2 (2012)

2013-04-22T11:10:00.001-04:00

This second (and final...?) collection of Bodacious Space Pirates episodes has the crew left very ill after a shipment gone wrong when monkeys go running wild on the good ship Bentenmaru spreading a flu like virus that infects all the crew except for Captain Marika (due to her being at home to get some rest at the time of the incident). Now the crew are stuck in quarantine so they don't go spreading the virus around on their home planet. Captain Marika now has to find a new crew so she can do her jobs otherwise she'll have her pirate license removed due to not being active. Captain Marika goes searching for a crew but has no luck until the Captain of the space pirate ship Barbaroosa gives her advice about finding people she can trust. This gives Captain Marika the idea to hire the Space Yaught Club (a class she is a part of during high school) to be the replacement crew. So with a new crew comes some all new kinds of trouble so how will Captain Marika handle this gang of teenage booty bandits? (Click "Read More" to read the full review if you are reading this on the main page).

One thing I don't like is that all the adverts for this show make it out to be no more than a cliché fan-service space harem that makes you think that it should be named "Bootylicious Space Pirates" instead, because it is far from that. What you are actually getting is a really nicely told science fiction show that takes itself very seriously. You won't see anything crazy for the sake of being crazy as everything done in this show is done for very apropreate reasons and they don't mess around (well, not during work anyway). Characters for the most part are really darn good but you do get some out of the bunch you will dislike and not because of them being annoying but rather because they are the bad guys, this is really good because it means the bad guys are serving their purpose of getting us to want to support the heroes. The show is typically a slower paced kind of sci-fi with a ton of technobabble but in this volume the action has been increased quite a bit and it was really awesome to see as all the action scenes were pretty dang awesome. One thing I really liked about the story is when something bug happens it really does feel like something big happens unlike in most other anime I have seen where a big twist is predictable and feels very empty.

"It's time to commit some piracy" - Captain Marika

Artwork looks very nice and matches up to the shows atomesphere really well. Animation is pretty good in the battle scenes and passable everywhere else, there is nothing more to say as it is what it is. English dub is pretty good and it matches up with the characters really nicely but there are some things about the dub that will annoy you like how they like to add "Chan" and "Sensei" when they are talking to each other as it feels very unnatural to have in an English dub. I know most of the more "hardcore" anime fans (yes I used quotation marks like an asshole) will hate me for this but I find that to be a bit annoying in English dubs and destroys some of the meaning of having an English dub to begin with. Soundtrack sounds very epic and matches up perfectly with everything that happens in the show and will also be a hit with fans of pop-music and heavy metal (and you know those two groups rarely mix).

Special features in this volume are the exact same as the ones in volume one with text-less credit sequences but that's not a bad thing at all as the credits are really enjoyable. Overall I really loved watching Bodacious Space Pirates and I hope we see more seasons in the future. This is one of those shows that has also driven me to buying the manga (which is still ongoing). I highly recommend checking this series out and if you don't I'll walk you off the plank into a black hole where you will end up in Davey Jones's locker.

Title: Bodacious Space Pirates Part 2

Animation Studio: Satelight

Genre: Animation/Anime, Action, Sci-Fi

Running Time: 314 Minutes (13 Episodes)

Distributor: Hanabee Entertainment (http://www.hanabee.com.au/)

Rating: PG (Mild animated violence, Infrequent course language, Sexual references)

Price: $59.99

Recommended: Yes

Live! From the Terror Dome - Mondo Cool Cast 92

2013-04-21T02:24:00.000-04:00

Sega Pluto, Super guns, Terror Dome art project, MCTV and much more! Listen and download after the jump.

Sega Pluto

Sega Astro City Cabs

Super Guns

Sega Titan AKA Sega ST-V – Jamma compatible Saturn board with Cart games

Virtual On $800 at Vacs N Vids.

Retron 5 - HDMI, Blue Tooth, GB/C/GBA games. Save states. Sounds convenient as fuck.

Drunk guy at Blind Bob’s talks Zelda and fighting games. Thanks Kes. Also thanks for the effort to buddy up. It is appreciated

Famicom converter from NWA on the Saturnleague

Phantasy Star Portable 2

Valkyria Chronicles

Binary Domain

Battle Golfer Yui

Dee Dee planet – Unreleased video game.

Terror Dome contest.

MCTV Signed up for it n shit

Death Adder 83 sed

When you talk about Metal Gear, I hunch over in my chair with a giant frown on my face for the next 30-45 minutes. Nah, I'm kidding, I have fucked around with Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 and liked it and I was really in to the first Splinter Cell game with all that sneakin around and shit.

I've got to say this latest podcast really satisfied my hunger for another Mondo Cool Cast, it feels like I just downed 20ounce porterhouse steak wrapped in bacon off of a Chinese woman's ass! Well done sir.

Check out Mondo Cool on Facebook
Subscribe to Jerry Terrifying's twitter for some Mondo Cool Tweets

Download. Right Click, Save Target As.

DVD Review: Princess Jellyfish (2010)

2013-04-20T23:30:00.000-04:00

Princess Jellyfish is a bizarre drama/comedy about a group of female otaku called "The Sisterhood" that fear a lot of things but mainly fancy looking people they call "The Stylish". Tsukimi is the main one you will see and she is obsessed with drawing jellyfish and is always fantasizing about being a princess, Chieko is the daughter of the landlord and is always dressed like a traditional geisha and likes to collect traditional Japanese dolls, Mayaya is the one that always wears a green jumpsuit and is obsessed with kung-fu and Romance of the Three-Kingdoms, Banba is the short one with an afro and a toy train addiction, Jiji is a manga artist (mainly does Yaoi) that barely leaves her room because of work and has an old man fetish. One night while Tsukimi was on her way home she notices that the pet shop wasn't taking proper care of their jellyfish so she freaks out all about it and gets into a fight with the guy working there and gets kicked out. Lucky for her she is helped by a beautiful strange woman named Kuranosuke who stops the whole situation from turning into a disaster. The two hang out for awhile and they go back to Tsukimi's place and pass out. When Tsukimi awakens in the morning she finds out that Kuranosuke is actually a guy who has a habit of walking around public in women's clothing (cue the theme to Bosom Buddies). (Click "Read More" to see the rest of the review).

Kuranosuke takes Tsukimi back to his place so he can pretty her up, this is when we find out that he is a son of a very rich politician family and they find his habit very shameful (minus his uncle). After putting make-up on her, Kuranosuke's brother starts to have a crush on Tsukimi and they go out on a date which leaves Kuranosuke very jealous. After the date The Sisterhood go to a community meeting and find out some dreaded news that their building is going to be taken down so a new freeway can go up. Kuranosuke and The Sisterhood must find a way to stop this from happening.

Ooohh, look at the jellyfish.

Don't let the goofiness of the story make you think that this is some terrible harem anime with Mrs.Doubtfire because it is far from that. The story is quite good with very interesting characters that are also quite lovable. Comedy is pretty funny and it also has the right amount of drama to stop it from crossing the goofball boarder. You will also find yourself getting addicted pretty quickly and as soon as you know it you have flown by the whole series. One complaint I do have is that the ending gives you a message that pretty much tells you that if you want to know what happens next, read the manga.

THRILLER!

Art-style is pretty good, has a nice colorful, cute, detailed, and fresh look to it that is quite refreshing to see these days. Animation is really great and lively which is perfect for this show as it blends in really well with the nature of the characters. Soundtrack is really awesome, especially the songs used in all the credit sequences and it just adds to the charm of the show. English and Japanese dubs were pretty decent but far from perfect with some mild annoyances with Kuranosuke as his voice can get irritating (in both dubs). It really doesn't matter which dub you watch this show on as they both sound pretty similar (minus the part of both dubs speaking in different languages) so there is no superior dub in this show.

Professor Jelly will also be popping up over time as added comedic relief.

There is a very odd problem in the set that I have with episode five and that is that there is no English dub on it. Not saying that in a way that they never made an English dub for it, but when you do have it set on the English dub you just get nothing but stone cold silence. No idea if this was just my copy but if this happens to you just switch the dub to Japanese ad turn on the English subtitles. Not many special features in this set but what you do get are some pretty sweet ones with audio commentaries on episodes one and eleven covering all the typical stuff you hear in funimation commentary. Overall this was a very nice show to watch that will easily fill up your day with cheer. I recommend giving this series some love.

My Gary's ghost! There is a girl trapped in a tank full of Jellyfish!

Title: Princess Jellyfish

Animation Studio: Brain's Base

Genre: Animation/Anime, Comedy, Drama

Running Time: 242 Minutes (11 Episodes)

Distributor: Siren Visual (http://www.sirenvisual.com.au/)

Rating: M15+ (Sexual references)

Price: $49.95

Recommended: Yes